The MACK First Book Award is a publishing prize open to artists who have not previously had a book published

The award was established in 2012 to support emerging artists and bodies of work that find a voice through the book form.

Each year, our jury creates a shortlist of the ten best submissions. The winner will receive the opportunity to collaborate with MACK in publishing their book project. The winning book will be announced and launched at Photo London in May 2020, alongside an exhibition of the work at Somerset House.

The Award has helped to further the careers of previously unknown and emerging artists, offering both shortlisted artists and winners unique exposure on an international scale. The winning project from 2018, TTP by Hayahisa Tomiyasu, received critical acclaim and is on its third edition. Many of the shortlisted artists have gone on to be represented by galleries and to exhibit internationally; Joanna Piotrowska, winner in 2014, has had recent solo shows at Kunsthalle Basel and TATE Britain, and Sofia Borges, winner in 2016, was included in the MoMA New Photography 2018 exhibition.

Over the years, artists that did not win but made it to the shortlist have been published by MACK, including books by Aleix Plademunt, Carly Steinbrunn, Ivars Gravlejs, and Kevin Lear. Numerous of the shortlist have also gone on to find publishers for their book projects.

2020 judges

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

The contest is open to all, without age or nationality limit. Projects sent can contain texts, collages or more experimental design ideas.

• Entries are only accepted from artists who have not previously had a book published.

• All submissions must either be unpublished or self-published book projects. Books that have already been published by a third party publishing house will not be considered.

• Submissions must consist of coherent book projects and not portfolios of images in book form.

• All submissions must be received as printed book dummies. Digital submissions in the form of PDFs, ebooks or apps will not be considered.

• Any text within the book must be supplied with an English translation.

Submissions must be received between 11 November 2019 – 20 January 2020. Entries received

before or after these dates will not be considered for the prize.

Submissions must be sent to :

MACK, First Book Award,

Studio E,  Ground Floor,

Emperor House, Dragonfly Place,

London SE4 2FL,

United Kingdom

For more information for the submissions : www.firstbookaward.com

The rewards will be : Being published by Mack, the book will be unveiled at Photo London in May 2020. An exhibition of the project will also be held at Somerset House.